Forrest

You can't, that's the fun part of candle making.

You are correct, my degree is in electrical engineering, but I work as a systems engineer at NASA. I'll use your example for Model 1, suppose you wanted to offer that model in another FO. You would make the candle and do a test burn, it might work or you might need a different wick. Once you got the wicking right you would be able to tell if your HT was good, and if it was you would add the candle to your line. But let's suppose when you made the candle you changed something in your process, say reduced stirring time, and the candle had poor HT. How would you know if it was the FO or the process that was the problem. You can only test for one variable at a time. That is why I say you have to fix your process. Once you have a set process, container, and wax any problems are due to FO or wicking, It is my nature to try and turn this into an exact science, even though I know I never will.

There are several variables involved in making candles; containers, wax, wicks, process, and FO are the main ones. If you want to compare FOs you need to fix your process and be consistent with it. Your process doesn't have to be perfect, but it needs to be good enough and be consistent. I've has several batches of candles that lacked HT due to process related issues.

Maybe you could start a FO addition support group over in the FO forum

I have been thinking about this a lot also, and have reached some conclusions. First off, doing a back of the envelope calculation, without taking density into account, for wax at 190 adding 7% FO at room temp will cause the mixture to drop to 182. The second thing is that you should stir the wax well before adding the FO to make sure all of the components in the wax are blended. Next you should add the FO slowly while stirring. The reason for this that pouring the FO in all at once will cause a cold zone where wax may solidify. Lastly so long as all the wax stays hot enough so that none of the components solidify, stirring is more important than temp. Stir well before pouring also. In the end you are trying produce a homogeneous solid out of the various liquid components.

I think my problem with the HTPs had a lot to do with the air currents tureens produce. When I double wicked and filled them half way the flames would be sideways as soon as I lit them and they both leaned the same direction. Those currents were so bad tea light size wicks were to big. The correct wick for an 11oz tureen with 6006 seems to be somewhere between a CD10 and CD12, depending on the FO. The thing is if you have a FMP at the wide part you get the air currents and it burns too hot. If you have wax on the sides you avoid the currents. So you need the smallest wick that will melt all the wax.

A heat lamp might do the trick. you would need to be careful not to get anything too hot, but if you set it up correctly all you would have to do is set the candle under it until the top wax melted.

Back when I was trying to double wick my 11oz tureens I gave up on HTPs because they leaned so much my melt pool was way off center. My CDs do tend to lean, but not so much that it has been an issue yet.

I'll post all my data with pictures in the Wax and Wick Tests section. It is about time my "vintage" wax had a seat at the table🙂

I just ordered a sample pack of LX wicks, as those seem to be the only recommended wicks that I didn't have. So I'll be testing CD, LX, Zinc, and HTP wicks. Now I have to decide how many sizes of each to test. With my travel schedule it looks like mid to late December before I can run the test.

In the final analysis it always comes down to wax, wick, container and FO. I’ll skip the environmental factors because all of my perfectly wicked candles are tunneling in my cold bedroom these days. My wick test only tells me is the size of the MPs the wicks produce under the test conditions and how they compare to each other. For an inexperienced candle maker, like me, it will provide guidance in choosing wicks to for testing. It won’t give you an answer, but it can provide some guidance. BTW I didn’t have good luck testing half full tureens. I found that the best wick was the smallest one that would burn all the wax. So there was always wax on the side above the level of the MP until you get near the bottom. When you fill half way you don’t have that wax. I ended up testing about three quarters full, and that worked better for me.

I'm going to do one to help me fit my wicks into a progression in my wax. For example, I need something bigger than a CD10 but smaller than a CD12 for my 11oz tureens. So I hope to end up with a list of smallest to largest wicks. Now you may say that it won't be accurate in real world situations because the results will depend on the container I'm trying to wick, which is true; however, it will be a starting point, which is more than I have now. Plus it may be of some help to all the nice 6006 users on the board that have helped me so much.

For me they are easy because, thanks to bfroberts, I have my wicking down. Also when polled my family they all wanted tins over any other container. Because I’m not selling I usually get my containers back, and tins are easy to recycle. If I decide to jump into the market I won’t do tins, because in a crowded market I think you need your containers to separate you from the crowd.

Now that makes me feel much better

Fortunately it was just two candles. They were the first two jars that poured perfectly for me, but they are about 12% so I expects some sooting and serious mushrooming, but the HT might be better.

My daughter smelled it somewhere and loved it, and of course candle making is easy so daddy should be able to make her some Nutmeg and Spice candles

candles & supplies are kind of like the grass around hear. they grow and spread until my wife lets me know I better do do something about.

And I thought thought jars would be easy to wick. My are over and under wicked.

I can run the heat or air to keep the temp in a good range, but only on test days. The humidity may be an issue. I have a dehumidifier, but it can't get the house as dry as it is during the winter and I have no way to measure humidity.

It is actually two test using one of the same candles; however, I believe I have shown that if you remelt aged wax it is like going back to square one, which is kind of what TT told me, so I may skip that part. I've picked out a nice tropical fruit scent that my wife will love if the HT can be improved.

Don’t you hate it when you are in the middle of making candles and you realize you’ve done something wrong? I got three jars ready, calculated how much wax I needed and threw in some extra for melts. I calculated the amount of FO and carefully measured it. But when I poured my candles I had just enough for two candles and some melts. I have no clue what happened, but I’m pretty sure I have 3 candles worth of FO in two candles. So please tell me about some of your oops experiences with candles so I won’t feel bad.

I'm going to need a shovel. My "mad photography skills" generally only apply to landscapes and grandchildren, but I might be able to do a little something when I get time. I like your picture because I can see the product and the label and the background doesn't detract from it.

Some of the things I read on the board recently got me to thinking, always a dangerous proposition. The thing that got me thinking was TT pointing out that the manufactures put additives in the wax that have a different melting temp. My first thought was that when you melt solids that are made up of components with different melting points the components tend to separate. Usually the component with the higher melting point will sink to the bottom until they reach their melting point. So, I suspect that after your wax has melted it needs to be stirred well before doing anything with it. My next thought was on blending the wax with the FO. If you pour room temp FO into melted wax it will create temperature zones in the wax that may cause some of the additives to solidify. The way to prevent this is to pour the FO slowly while stirring.

Well if you don't mind me asking, what size zinc and how far apart are your wicks.

With a diameter of 3.75 I’m guessing they would need double wicking. They hold twice the wax of the 8oz tin and have about 40% more surface area, but I’m worried that safely wicking them would be a problem.